Adjustable wheel and axle assembly



June 3, 1952 D. F. SHERMAN 2,599,136

ADJUSTABLE WHEEL AND AXLE ASSEMBLY Filed June 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR DEL MEEFSHEBMAN) ATTORNEYS June 3, 1952 D. F. SHERMAN ADJUSTABLE WHEEL. AND AXLE ASSEMBLY 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 21 1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS June 3, 1952 D. F. SHERMAN 2,599,136

ADJUSTABLE WHEEL AND AXLE ASSEMBLY Filed June 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR DEL ME/a F. 5/152 MAN,

ATTORNEY June 3, 1952 D. F. SHERMAN 2,599,136

ADJUSTABLE WHEEL AND AXLE ASSEMBLY 7 Filed June 21, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 E1217... Eli-.5-

INVENTOR DEL MEB .HSHERMN,

ATTORNEYS Patented June 3, 1952 "UNI TED I STATES F.

2,599,136 7 v ADJUSTABLE WHEEL AND -AXLE' ASSEMBLX 'Delmer F. Sherman, NewPl'ymouth, mm

Application Junefil, 1950, S.erial.No. 169;412

1' My inventionrelatesto wheels and. axles. and more particularly toan. adjustable. screw hub for. connecting, a. wheel or. the like ta-a. driving axle onshaft l I Agricultural tractors now have their rear or driving, wheels adjustable lengthwise of the axle sections. to vary their transverse spacingv accordto. th'espa'cing ofthe rows of crops to be cultiva't'ed and for. other reasons. When such transverse spacing of the tractor wheels. or tread members'mu'st be. changed, it i frequently necessary to resort'to the. time-consuming and back-breaking .jobs off jlacking up the tractor and lifting heavy'whe'elsaround. To obviate such diiiicult ahd; laborious work various adjustable wheel "mountings have been "proposed'and in some! the adj stment of th'e wheel's may be? accomplished "oyth'e tractor power through the use of screw threa euaxie sections and screw 'threadedi'wheel hubs'thereon.

"It is an object of this invention to'pro'vi'de im- "proved adjustable screw nub. structure of the above indieatedcharacter by "means of which the "wheels may be quickly and easily adjusted to "the desired. width by the power. o'f'the tractor, and thus save much-timean physical effort.

Another object or the ihV'entionistoprovide a strueturedfthis characterwhiehis sim le, strong anddfirable, andwhi'ch'may'be easily'maintamed inlp'r'oper operating condition so that the I adjustntent-may be accomplished quickly 'and.w1thlittle egor't. V

v I hfe ahdile. and other objects and. advantages are attahied bythepreferred embodiment-of the vi hir eiitibniherinafter described and claimed' and "'i-lliistrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

iig". '1 'is-adiag'rammatic rear. elevation otparts o1 a. tractor showing the rear axllhous'ing con- "'t'ain'ing the differential gearing, th screw threaddaxle. sections and the. .twoadjustable driving wheels mounted in accordance withmy m vention. I

Fig.2 is a sideelevation on an enlargedscale, a. portion or an axle with thelimprovedadlustable screw hub assembly, a portionv of the wheel beingshown insection;

Ti'gsf'3 and 4 are transverse sections taken on the lines 33 and 1+4 respectively of Fig. 2

.1QQ1 ing in the directions of arrows Figs! hand 6 are side and edge views respectively of the hub member;

Figs. 'I'"and -8'-are-=-side and edge views respectively-of the outer key member or ring;

Figs; enand 10 are side andedge viewsrespecf tively 0t. theinner key membenor ring 'and 'Fig. 11 is a detail section on line llll of Referringmorein detailtov the drawings Hidenotes. the.- two driving, wheels of. a tractor or. the like 1-6 the. twoaxle membersor 1 sections along which the wheels'are adjustable to vary their transverse spacing, and H. the rear axle housing containing. the. usual differential gear'ing, these parts being. conventionally illustratedinFig. 1. The two axle sections 16 have externalscrew threads It, the threads on one-section spiraling in the opposite direction from. those on the other section. Thethreadsarepreferably or thesquare structed.

Each. axle is formed with a single longitudinal 20 slot or keyway it of substantial size.

The wheels [5 include tread portions 20 and hub portions 2! connected by spoke or web portions 22. These parts may be variously con- The, tread portions may be rubber tired. The main hub. member may .be castv as part of a-cast wheel. As shown, themain .hub

merriber 2! has a radially extending flang 23 with an annular series of holes 24 to receivebolts or other fastenings 25. to secure it tov thespoke portion 22. The bores of the twoh-ub members are formed with internal screw threads'jifi .to

correspond with thethreads on the axle-sections, andseach bore isformed with a groove .or keyway 28 corresponding in.:size to the keyways. insthe axle. sections. The two hub members are-of sub- ..stantially cylindrical form. and have flatinner and outeriaces. on-which are formed thrustlugs '29 andifl-ior a purposehereinafter explained.

The lugs29 project toward the inner ends of the axle sections while the lugs 30 project toward their. outer ends; the. lugs on each hub member being disposed adjacent the outer periphery of the latter and being also-disposed at equal distances circumferentially from the. radial. plane or-t'he keyway 28- as seen in Figs. 5 andfi. The

huhmcmbersZl are also formed: at diametrically opposite.points.with bolt receiving, openings 3.].

The wheels areadapted to be looked-tothe axles, after they have. been adjusted, by means of two key-carryjying rings or sleeves 32 .and 33 which. arepositionedagainst the flat: faces. of the hub portions 2| and secured by cl'ampingbolts -34 -Thcse ring; members.- 32: and33 are not internally threaded and-have.- smooth, bores; with..a sliding, fit: and bearing onthe axlethrea-ds. The

inner ri gs- 32. have. :keys 35 corresponding; in

length to the thickness of the rings forengagement with the axle keyways l9, while the outer rings 33 have much longer and higher keys 3B. The latter project from the inner faces of the flat rings 33 and extend into the keyways 28 in the hub members 2| as well as into the keyways IQ of the axle sections. Both-rings 32 and 33 are formed at diametrically opposite points with circumferentially extending slots 31 adapted to receive the bolts 34 which also pass through the openings 3| in the hub member between the rings. Also formed on the ring members 32 and 33 are outwardly projecting ears 38 disposed at points radially outwardly from the keys of said ring members. These ears are formed with tangentially extending screw threaded openings to receive set screws or bolts 39 adapted to thrust against the lugs 29, 30. m It will be. seen on reference to Fig. 2 that when the parts are assembled the cap screw or bolt 39 in the car 38 on the inner ring 32 will thrust against the lug 29 and tend to relatively move said ring and the hub member in a circumferential direction, while the V screw 39 in the lug on the outer ring 33 will project in the opposite direction and thrust against the other lug on the hub member to produce a similar relative rotation of the parts. Such relative circumferential movement of the parts 2|, 32, 33 will place lateral tension on the keys .in the keyways and all slack can be taken up whether it is due to wear or to imperfect fitting of the parts. The elongated holes or slots 31 permits sufficient adjustment to compensate for all bolts 34 are removed so that the members 32 and 33 may be moved away from the opposite faces of the hub members 2|. When the keys 36 leave the keyways in the hubs, the latter are no longer locked to the axle sections. Hence when the axle sections are driven through the difierential gearing the wheels will be caused to move inwardly closer to each other or outwardly away from each other according to the direction of rotation of the axle sections. When the wheels have been slid along the ground to the desired spacing, the key-carrying members are replaced against the opposite side of the hub members so that the latter will be locked by the keys 36 to turn with the axle sections. The bolts 34 are then replaced, and after the pressure screws or bolts 39 are tightened against the lugs 29, 30 to take up slack, the bolts 34 are tightened to securely fasten the hub parts together. In order to prevent the hub parts from being moved oil the axle sections, I provide adjacent their outer ends screw threaded, radially extending openings or sockets 43. to receive threaded stop pins 4|. These stops 4| have in their outer ends hexagonal or other flat walled sockets to receive a wrench or turning tool. The sockets 40 are of sufiicient depth to permit the outerends of the screw pins 4| to be moved beneath the bottoms of the threads 18 to permit of the removal of the hub members from the axle sections when that is desired.

From the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been made for carrying out the objects of the invention, and while preferences have been disclosed, attention is invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention as claimed I claim:

1. In a wheel and axle assembly of the type in which the axle is externally screw threaded and axial adjustment of the wheel is effected by relative rotation of the two, and wherein the axlehas an external keyway utilized for locking the wheel in a selected position of axial adjustment, the improvement comprising a hub member for carrying the wheel and provided with an internal screw thread to mate with the axle screw threadand further provided with an internal keyway to aline with the axle keyway, locking members disposed on opposite sides of said hub member and slidable on the axle, said locking members having keys slidable in the keyway of the axle, at least one of said keys being adapted to extend into the keyway in said hub member for holding the latter against rotation on the axle,'slack-take-up means between said hub member and said locking members including tension screws carried by one member and reacting against another member to relatively rotate the two members, and removable fastenings for securing said locking members on opposite sides of said hub member.

2. In a wheel and axle assembly of the'type in which the axle is externally screw threaded and axial adjustment of the wheel is efiected by relative rotation of the two, and wherein the axle has an external keyway utilized for looking the wheel in a selected position of axial adjustment, the improvement comprising a hub member for carrying the Wheel and provided with an internal screw thread to mate with the axle screw thread and further provided with an internal keyway to aline with the axle keyway, said 'hub member being of annular form and having fiat sides formed with a pair of oppositescrews in the latter and positioned to engage.

said thrust lugs, and removable fastenings for securing said rings on opposite sides of said hub member.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which'said removable fastenings are bolts passed through openings in said hub member and through arou- 7 ate slots in said rings.

DELMER F. SHERMAN.

Number Name 7 Date 2,235,457 Lorimor Mar. 18, 1941 2,324,681 -Dekker July20; 194s 

